GeT: A Pencil

Engaging Students with Geometry: A Cyclic Pedagogy

Completed
Friday, February 14th, 2025
11:00AM  PT
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12:00PM MT
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1:00PM CT
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2:00PM ET
PRESENTED BY: Barbara Reynolds, Bill Fenton

Every instructor’s choice of pedagogy influences their students, and the future secondary teachers among those students may be absorbing lessons beyond the apparent course content. It is thus important for instructors to utilize effective pedagogy that will serve as good models for those students as they become teachers themselves. In this seminar, we present a cyclic pedagogy for engaging students in discussions about important geometry topics. The cycle of preparation—engagement—assessment offers an effective and flexible structure for designing a lesson or a complete course. Technology offers options for every phase of the cycle. We have found this cycle to be effective for promoting students’ interest in and curiosity about geometry, which enhances their learning. In this seminar, we will present two geometric topics, demonstrating how they can be approached within the preparation—engagement—assessment cycle. Participants of this seminar are encouraged to have a geometry tool (such as GeoGebra) available during the presentation.

Registration:
Registration is closed
Duration:
60 minutes
Format:
Online seminar via Zoom web meeting software with questions and discussion. Detailed instructions for joining the seminar will be emailed to registered participants.
Presenter(s):
Barbara Reynolds
Sr. Barbara Reynolds was in 8th grade when she first became captivated by geometry because her teacher, who was following the “New Mathematics Curriculum” of the 1960s, was skilled at incorporating guided explorations into classroom discussions. She decided at that time that when she grew up, she would “go to college and study mathematics!” She did just that, completing her BA and PhD at Saint Louis University in 1971 and 1979, respectively. She began her teaching career as a Teacher Corps Intern at the University of South Florida in Tampa in 1972 – 73, followed by two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana, West Africa. She met Bill Fenton around 1995 at a calculus-reform workshop (C4L, Calculus Concepts, Computers, and Cooperative Learning) where they encountered the ACE-cycle (Activities, Class discussion, Exercises) and realized their shared interests in both Geometry and activity-based learning strategies. Since then, they have given numerous presentations together, and co-authored two geometry texts, College Geometry Using The Geometer’s Sketchpad (2006), and College Geometry with GeoGebra (2021) that use the cyclic pedagogy described in this presentation. Sr. Barbara taught mathematics and computer science at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, WI, for 44 years; when the University closed in 2022, she was recognized as Professor Emerita.
Bill Fenton
Bill Fenton recently retired from Bellarmine University after 41 years of teaching, including nine years as Dean of Arts & Sciences. The advanced geometry course was among his favorites to teach. With Sr. Barbara Reynolds, he wrote the textbook College Geometry using The Geometer’s Sketchpad and later revised this as College Geometry Using GeoGebra. He and Sr. Barbara have presented many workshops together on pedagogy, especially as it relates to geometry.

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